Featured 800 years ago: The Mongols are coming!

This year sees the 800th anniversary of an event that, though seldomly taught in high school history classes, shaped world history to an extent comparable to Alexander’s conquest of Asia, the Punic Wars, or the expansion of the British Empire in the 18th century. In 1220, the Mongols under Genghis Khan annexed the Khwarezmian Empire, paving the way to becoming a world power whose realms eventually stretched from Beijing to Baghdad, and from the Volga to the Indus river:

Social isolation gave me enough time to read Peter Jackson: The Mongols and the Islamic World: From Conquest to Conversion (Yale University Press, 2017), which I can strongly recommend to anyone interested in this part of history. While reading this book, I recognized that as a medieval coin collector, I could illustrate much of the history of the Mongol westward conquests with coins from my collection, especially since I recently developed a side interest in “Eastern” medieval coinage. Thus, I thought it might be time for a write-up! (Since I am still a beginner in this field, please excuse but feel free to correct all possible missattributions or mistranscriptions of Arabic legends.)

When the Mongol westward expanse began in 1219, Genghis Khan already ruled a vast empire. Having first united, often by force, the nomadic peoples of the Mongol steppe, he had conquered the realms of the Jurched (Jin Dynasty) and of the Qara Khitai, a sinicized dynasty ruling over lands that today are mostly part of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and northwestern China. The Mongol empire now bordered the territory of the Khwarezmian dynasty, which controlled most of what today is Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and some neighboring regions.

Ala ad-Din Muhammad II, the Sunni Muslim ruler of Khwarezmia, was in a position similar to that of Genghis Khan. Just as the latter, he had built vast Empire in only a few years. Having inherited the comparatively small province of Khwarazm as well as some only recently conquered parts of Khorasan from his father Tekish in 1200 AD, Muhammad soon had come into conflict with the Ghurids and other neighbouring dynasties, defeated them, and annexed their lands. Now, he ruled over a vastly heterogeneous patchwork of territories: “however impressive it appears on the map, moreover, Muhammad’s empire was in reality a brittle edifice, comprising territories which, apart from Khwārazm, had been accumulated only recently. Transoxiana had been annexed within the past ten years; Ghūr and the rest of Afghanistan, within the past six” (Jackson 2017, p. 77).

It thus doesn’t surprise that a plethora of different local types of coinage was struck in his name. To some degree, this reflects the heterogeneity of the Khwarezmian Empire during Muhammad’s reign. My first example comes from Qunduz (today in northeastern Afghanistan). The type derives from the longstanding Asian tradition of bull-and-horseman jitals, but it is much larger than regular jitals and doesn’t seem to contain any silver at all. I can’t say I properly understand this coin:

Khwarezmian Empire, under Ala ad-Din Muhammad II, AE large jital, 1200–1220 AD, Qunduz mint. Obv: stylized bull l.; legend around: "abu'l fath / muhammed bin / al-sultan"; circular marginal legend (mint and date) is completely off-flan Rev: stylized horseman holding spear l.; legend around and in margins: "as-sultan al-azam ala al-dunya wa ud-din," mostly off-flan. 23mm, 4.84g. Ref: Tye 243; Album 1740.

My second coin only bears Arabic legends naming the ruler. It was struck at an unclear mint from low quality billon. Just as the next coin, it falls under the broad definition of “jital” proposed by Robert Tye but isn’t part of the bull-and-horseman tradition. I’ll adopt the term nonetheless and leave discussions about the limits of the category “jital” to those with more knowledge and expertise in this area:

Khwarezmian Empire, under Ala ad-Din Muhammad II, BI “jital,” 1200–1220 AD, unclear mint. Obv: legend in three lines, including "as-sultan / ? / ?". Rev: legend in three lines, including "muhammad / as-sultan /?". Tye 286; Album 1727. 17mm, 3.00g.

Here is a third coin minted for Muhammad, again in a completely different design, from copper, and struck in the city of Kurzuwan (today in Afghanistan). Remember the city of Kurzuwan – it will come up again further below.

Khwarezmian Empire, under Ala ad-Din Muhammad II, AE “jital,” 1200–1220 AD, Kurzuwan mint. Obv: "Kurzuwan" in circle, legend around "as-sultan al-azam muhammad bin as-sultan". Rev: Kalima. 16mm, 2.49g. Ref: Tye 246.

The conflict between the Mongols and the Khwarezmian Empire probably was a tragic escalation of historical contingency. As Jackson argues, “it is far from certain that the original decision to attack the Khwarazmian empire was inspired by a programme of world- conquest” (Jackson 2017, p. 75). In fact, seems as though the Mongols initially even tried to establish friendly diplomatic relations with their western neighbours, probably because their main military ambitions pointed eastwards to China. Yet, a governor of Muhammad II had a group of Mongol merchants killed, assuming, maybe correctly, that they were spies. In response, Genghis Khan sent a group of envoys to Muhammad II, asking for the responsible governor to be handed over. In an ill-advised move, Muhammad had the envoys and an accompanying trading party executed.

The reasoning behind this is quite unclear. Maybe, Muhammad, protecting his governor, saw a need to aggressively demonstrate his power and underestimated his eastern neighbors. Possibly, he also wasn’t aware that “the Mongols were extremely sensitive to the treatment of their ambassadors” (Jackson 2017, p. 75) and might have taken their execution as a provocation that could only be answered by fully-fledged war. On the other hand, the threat to Mongol commerce posed by Muhammad as well as swelling territorial conflicts might have played a role in the unfolding of events, too. It is also imaginable that Muhammad simply regarded a future military conflict with the Mongols as inevitable and assumed that his chances of winning it were quite good at this point.

In any case, executing the Mongol emissaries proved to be a terrible decision. In response, Genghis crossed the Tien Shan mountains and invaded with extreme brutality in 1219. After a series of military misjudgements and defeats, the Khwarezmian Empire was no more. Muhammad II died in December 2020 on an island in the Caspian Sea where he had taken refuge after the fall of his capital Samarkand had fallen. By spring 1221, the Mongols controlled all of Khorasan and had massacred the inhabitants of the cities who had resisted them.

Muhammad’s heir Jalal ad-Din Mangubarni assembled the surviving Khwarezmian forces and retreated into Afghanistan. Mongol forces pursued him and, after an initial Khwarezmian victory at Parwan, finally defeated Jalal al-Din and drove him and his remaining followers into exile to India. It is in this context that the coin below was struck in the abovementioned city of Kurzuwan in May or June 1221, probably while the city was under siege by Genghis. These coins were minted by an anonymous local malik, probably some local governor left behind by the retreating Khwarezmian forces, just a short time before the city fell into Mongol hands:

Khwarezmian Empire, struck by an anonymous local governor, AE “jital,” June or July of 1221 AD (Jumada of 618 AH), Kurzuwan mint. Avers "al-malik" ("the ruler") in central circle; around: "tarikh jumada sanat thaman asbar wa sin mi'at" ('dated to Jumada, of the year 618'). Rev: inscription in four lines "kurzuwan / la ilah illa allah / muhammad rasul / allah" ('Kurzuwan. There is no God but God. Muhammad is the messenger of God'). 20mm, 2.78g. Tye 324.2; Album 1971.

Originally, the Mongols themselves didn’t use coinage for trade but relied heavily on barter. Yet with time, they adapted and started to strike coins in the tradition of the lands they had conquered. These two jitals were struck in the province of Nimruz in southern Afghanistan, which had been ruled by a Nasrid vassal of the Khwarezmian empire – but by the late 1220s or 1230s, when the second coin was struck, it already was under the control of the khan:

Nasrid Dynasty of Sistan (Khwarezmian vassals, also known as the Saffarids of Sistan or Maliks of Nimruz), under Taj ad-Din Harb, citing caliph al-Nasir, AE/BI jital, 1167–1215 AD, Sistan mint. Obv: "harb" in circle; partially struck legend in margin. Rev: "[unclear word]/ la illah illa / muhammad rasul / al-nasir ud-din / muhammad." 14.5 mm, 2.96g. Ref: Tye 123, Album 1427.1.


Great Mongols, under Genghis (Chingiz) Khan or slightly later, BI “jital,” 1220s/1230s AD, Nimruz (Sistan) mint. Obv: "qa’an / al-‘adil" ('the just khan'). Rev: " zarb i/ nimruz" ('struck in Nimruz'). 14.5mm, 3.42g. Ref: Tye –; Album A1973.

After the Mongol annexation of Khwarezmia, the Mongol empire bordered the rich Islamic territories in Anatolia, controlled most of the Silk Road, and had learned of its rich neighbors to the West and their weaknesses. This set the fundament for the Mongol conquests and raids into Asia Minor, the Levante, and Eastern Europe in the following decades. Central Asia became Mongol core territory, as this coin of the Golden Horde struck in the former Khwarezmian heartland almost a hundred years after Genghis' conquest illustrates. By that time, the Mongol rulers had widely adopted the Muslim faith of the people they had conquered:

Golden Horde, under Uzbek Khan, AR dirham/dang, 1314–1315 AD (714 AH), Khwarizm mint. Obv: "al-sultan / al-adil / uz bek" in square. Rev: mint and date formula for Khwarizm 714 AH in polylobe. 16mm, 1.80g. Ref: Album 2025C.

Please post your coins related to Khwarezmia or the Mongols!

 

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Wow, what a great write up, and wow again... SUPER coins, @Orielensis

I enjoyed reading the dynamic history, including some dumb mistakes of worlds colliding. Very cool.

GENGHIS KHAN


Great Mongols, Genghis (Chingiz) Khan,
AH 603-624/ AD 1206-1227,
AE Jital (4.12gm, 2h),
Ghazna type, undated, citing Genghis as Khaqan and
citing on the reverse, the 'Abbasid caliph al-Nasir. O: 'adl / khaqan / al-a'zam("the Just and Supreme Khaqan" or "Just [coin] of the Supreme Khaqan"). R: al-Nasir / li-Din Allah / amir al-mu- / -minin ("al-Nasir li-Din Allah, commander of the faithful").
SICA-9, 1008; Tye 329; Album 1969
Ex: David L Tranbarger

 

Very nice review, much more than beginners level !
The history of this region before the invasion of the Mongols is a bit neglected part of world history. Partly, but not only, by the destruction of normal society and infrastructure by the Mongols.
Agree on your second coin being Tye#286. The entire legend is; obv: "al-Sultan / al-a'zam / abu al-Fath", rev: "Muhammad bin / al-Sultan / Tekish".
It is actually a quite rare type. To illustrate that i can show you another one which was struck by the same dies:

 

Excellent post @Orielensis! I have two jitals from Kurzuwan to share. The first is of Ala ad-Din Muhammad II (1200-1220) and has no date:

Note the line between the elephant's legs. I had assumed it was a die crack (hardly surprising given the holed and cracked flan), but @THCoins thinks it is supposed to show chains binding the elephant's legs, probably some sort of political statement whose exact meaning is unfortunately lost to us.

I also have one of the siege coins from the siege of Kurzuwan in 1221, the same type as yours except mine is dated to Rabi' II 618 AH (May-June 1221 AD):

 

Very nice! Excellent t and very informative write-up. I have been working on a similar side project off and on for the past couple of years (nothing new to share), but have yet to snag any Mongol coins. The closest I can come is a mongol coin (which I cannot identify) which was counter-marked by the Genoese in Caffa:
Latin East - Genoese Caffa
Italian States, Genoese Caffa, 1360s?
AE Pul, 17.29mm x 1.3 grams
Obv.: Christogram countermark, from Genoese Caffa
Rev.: ? anonymous Jujid
Ex Andy Singer
Note: countermarked on Jujid AE.

I posted my reasoning for buying this coin here

 

Wow! Informative and entertaining write-up, @Orielensis ! This one should be featured!

 

Nice write up and cool coins. I took a Central Asian history class in college and covered some of this material. Indeed the Mongols were brutal. Later in the 1250's they executed the caliph in Baghdad by covering him and his family under carpets and then running horses back and forth across the carpet until they were all dead.

 

To demonstrate that there also was some continuity, with al those changing regimes, i can show these three examples:

The first is Ghorid in name of Taj al-Din Yildiz. On the coin he declares himself as the devoted slave of former ruler Mu'izz al-Din Muhammad bin Sam.

The second is the same basic design. But now a little later under Khwarezmshah Ala al-Din Muhammad:

And the third was likely struck during the transition period to Mongol rule. Possibly to be non-offensive to any possible local victor, this coin was issued only under the name of the far away Abbasid caliph from Baghdad, al-Nasir.


These also illustrate that it does come in handy to learn to read a little Arab if you plan to focus on the coins from this region.

 

I remember that in my class too!

 

While I have no coins to share, thank you for the engaging introduction to the history and associated coins. A couple of themes that seem to be common for those building extensive empires: know the opposition (also works the other way - underestimate them at your peril as learned by Mohammad II), adapt to local customs.

The coin minted in Kurzuwan "just a short time before the city fell into Mongol hands" and others you share become compelling eyewitnesses with your context.

I agree with @Roman Collector should be a "Featured".

 

I hope @Peter T Davis features it. Most interesting article!

 

Thanks for the kind comments and for posting your coins, everyone!

Thanks so much for your help with the legend! I honestly had kind of despaired when trying to decipher especially the last word of the reverse legend. For some reason, I had read the initial character as a nun and thus was on the completely wrong path, but now I see that it is a tha – and "tha–kha–shin" is Muhammad's father Tekish, of course!

I find it quite interesting that your third coin cites the Abbasid caliph al-Nasir, though the Mongols by that time were not primarily Muslim. In fact, as @ancient coin hunter pointed out above, Genghis' grandson Hulagu Khan didn't hesitate to execute the last Abbasid caliph al-Musta'sim in 1258 after the sack of Baghdad. Al-Musta'sim is cited on this coin minted by the Ayyubid prince Al-Nasir Yusuf, who in 1260 was also defeated and subsequently executed by Hulagu:

Ayyubids of Aleppo, under al-Nasir Yusuf II (“al-Nasir Yusuf II”), AR dirham, 1250–1259 AD, Dimashq (Damascus mint). Obv: regent’s title in square: “al-malik al-nasir / salah ad-din yusuf / ?”; circle with partial legend around. Rev: title of caliph al-Musta‘sim in square: “al-imam al-musta'sim / billah abu ahmad / amir al-mu'minin,” circle with partial legend around. Ref: Album 843.1. 23mm, 2.7g.

Yet, though Hulagu Khan wasn't a Muslim and had just killed the politico-religious head of this faith, he also had no problem to mint coins in the Islamic tradition showing the kalima (creed) on the reverse, probably in an attempt to make them more acceptable to his Muslim subjects. This illustrates the remarkable pragmatism of the Mongols when it came to religious matters:

Ilkhanate, under Hulagu (possibly a posthumous issue), AR dirham, ca. 1261–1265 AD (659–663 AH; also struck posthumously until c. 1281 AD/ 679 AH), Mardin mint (?). Obv: "qa'an/ al-'azam/ hulagu ilkhan/ al-mu'azam;" in margin, fragmentary mint and date formula. Rev: kalima: "la ilah illa allah/ wahdahu la sharikalahu/ muhammad rasul allah;" in margin, fragmentary Qu'ran 3:26. 22.5mm, 2.69g. Ref: Album 2122.2.

 

I think many aspects of the events of this time period centered around honour and respect.
The Khwarezmshah was not really involved in the daily lives of his subjects, nor in their petty local coinage for daily use. He did however think very highly of himself and demanded that people also expressed their respect, also in coinage.
Two examples of this:
First: Horseman Jital where the Kwarezm shah is named as "Iskandar al-Thani", which means "Alexander (the Great), the second".

Second, where he takes an even more grandiose title: Obv text: “السلطان / ظل الله في / الأرض “ “Al-Sultan / Zil Allah fi / al’ard”. Which translates as: “The Sultan, the shadow of Allah on earth”.


Giving in to demands of some Mongol envoy would have been an insult to his honour.

The Mongols were not that different. The Khan commanded respect. Resistance was seen as disrespectfull and was repressed with brute force. Ofcourse there also were cultural differences. At the onset the Mongols did not really see the value of precious metals. If the ruler of a city though he just could buy of the Mongol army with some gold and silver but did not show sufficient diplomacy and respect he had a problem.
There was largely a tolerance for religious matters, as long as it did not question the power of the Khan. The religious authority of the Abbassid caliph was not perceived as a danger. A confrontation only became unavoidable because the caliph also claimed political power which opposed Mongol supremacy.
Conversion of Mongol rulers to Islam took several decades. This would not have been possible if they would have completely distroyed the society they conquered. Instead, social structure stayed largely intact. The ruling class of administrators and advisors to the ruler consisted largely of Muslim Persians who had major influence in the "assimilation" of the Mongols.
The Mongols did have their own religious system, with belief in a creator. There is also numismatic evidence that local authorities tried to bridge Islamic and Mongol religious beliefs:


The obverse text here reads: "بتوفیق پروردگار ", “be-Taufiq-i Parwardigar”, Which translates as: “By the grace of the Omnipotent”. There is a similar type which has the text “be-qovvat-e aferidegar-e 'alam”, = “By the power of the creator”. So, there is a reference to a highest authority, but the name of Allah was avoided.

 

Excellent write-up @Orielensis. I've been looking for a coin from the Great Khan for a while now but have been missing out. I find is rather curious that Chingiz Khan's coins were struck in the Arabic Script and would have thought they would have been in Chinese or similar script.

Also they are almost always described as 'Islamic' while he was not a Muslim. Agreed that his successors converted to Islam but Chengiz Khan died a Tengrist and while he was religiously tolerant and showed interest in several religions including Islam, he was also responsible for butchering vast numbers of civilians belonging to those religions.

The coins of the Mongol Dynasty were generally poorly struck and almost illegible, especially their gold issues. Also in the majority of cases, the date is either off-flan or so weakly struck that it is illegible. Therefore, I consider myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity to acquire an example of a gold dinar where the date of AH(6)18 (1221/22 AD) is apparently visible (although I am unable to locate it). This means it was struck during his lifetime and very special, for me at least. It order to get further confirmation, I will be submitting it for grading and hopefully it will come back graded with partially or fully visible date.

 

Just wanted to say, great article! I dont have any coins to share.

 

The date as I read it is 6[1]8, written out in words in the margin (right image). "Eight" ثمان is clear at 6 o'clock. Reading anti-clockwise, the decade is flat but the "six" ست of "six hundred" is legible beginning at 3 o'clock. No temporal ruler is named, only the 'Abbasid caliph al-Nasir, but the coin is attributable to Chingiz by date. Compare this virtually identical example with the decade "ten" عشر fully legible: https://www.zeno.ru/showfull.php?photo=219659

 

Thanks. Yes I see it is in script and not numbers. Obviously your command over the Arabic script is much better than mine. I would never have been able to decipher that one.

I am not aware of any coin specifically attributable to Chingiz but rather to the vassals of the Empire.

 

A beautiful new acquisition, @1934 Wreath Crown , and nice to see this thread revived! @dltsrq obviously has much better Arabic than me, and his reading of the date confirms that this coin is attributable to Chingiz.

There are a couple of types, such as mine, which give the title "khan", as well as some very rare coins naming Chingiz. Our member @Loong Siew has a particularly nice example, which he posted here.

Since I did this write-up, two more Mongol coins found their way into my collection, and I'll take this opportunity to post them. The first was struch for Arghun, the last non-Muslim ruler of the Ilkhanate. The kalima on the reverse reflects the religion of the ruler's local subjects – Arghun himself apparently had Tengrist, Buddhist, as well as Christian sympathies, and might best be described as polyreligious. It gets extra points for the hawk as well as for being a bilingual type with both Uyghur and Arabic legends:


Ilkhanate, under Arghun with Ghazan as viceroy, AR dirham, 1291–1292 AD (690–691 AH), Astarabad mint. Obv: Uyghur protocol in three lines, two above hawk and one below: "[qaghanu]/ nereber/ deletkeguluksen(?)" ('of the Khaqan / in the name of / struck'); Arabic name of the ruler Arghun in central l. field; citing his heir Ghazan in r. field; hawk r., sunface rising behind. Rev: Shiite kalima in three lines in square: "la ilah illa allah / muhammad rasul allah / ali waliun allah", partial mint and date formula for Astarabad in margins. Ref: Album 2149.2. 17.5mm, 2.93g.

The second one, struck for the Golden Horde in Crimea, is not as pretty but has two interesting countermarks with the title "khan." Apparently, the Golden Horde, maybe under Abdallah Khan, systematically reapproved worn coins with countermarks instead of striking new ones.


Juchids (Golden Horde), under Uzbek Khan, AR dirham/dang, 1312–1341 AD, Qrim mint. Obv: name and title of Uzbek: “as-sultan muhammad / uz beg khan / ‘azza nasrahu” (heavily worn; countermark “khan”). Rev: kalima in circle: "la ilah illa allah / muhammad rasul allah,” with worn date around (countermark “khan”). Countermarks tentatively attributed to Abdallah Khan, r. 1361–1370. 16mm, 1.00g. Ref: Album 2025G (including countermark); Sagdeeva 189 (without countermark).

 

Very nice coins @Orielensis. I would love to get something similar to your first one with an interesting combination of both scripts. VERY NICE INDEED.......I'm envious

 

Excellent write up..There is also a silver cash type attributed to Genghis Khan called the Da Chao Tong Bao... There are 3 known types which bears his name instead of his title of which 2 were of Khwaresz silver and gold types.. There is one Samarkand bronze issue but very rare..